A Complete Overhaul of King Arthur's Gold

Now, to begin, I would like to state that I've been playing the game for a few weeks. Not months, not since it first appeared, but this is what I've gathered so far. I've seen older footage of the game, gameplays and commentaries and all of that neat stuff. After finally digging my claws in, I've found the game to be quite enjoyable, but a bit one sided. Here's my list of suggestions, tweaks, and balances to the game.

Current Overview: Skip this section if you grasp the basic concept of all classes. Move on to "Reformed Classes".
Knights: Currently operating as the tank of the game, the Knight works as... well, a killing Machine right now. Near unstoppable, actually. Which is a problem. They have a total of four hearts, or 16 total hitpoints, and use a sword, shield, and bombs as their weapons. A jab deals four hitpoints, a slash deals eight, and a double slash deals... sixteen. An instant kill on another Knight. Bombs deal anywhere from 7-12 points of damage, or 1 and 3/4s of a heart (damage restricted by cover) to three full hearts, enough to kill a Builder and Archer in one go. The knockback from bombs are severe, knocking back surviving characters a massive distance, or a knight... really far into the air. Which they can then use their shields to Glide whilst being immune to most damage, especially arrows. Which is a problem.

Archers: Acts as support of the game, unable to do anything without the help of others. Effectively babies as of right now, due to the fact that Knights one hit kill them every time, and even Builders have an upper hoof in close, restricted areas (though this isn't an issue at range at all). Their equipment is their bow and short supply of arrows, and their grappling hook. The bow deals very little damage, and even less if fighting an upwards battle due to arc. Arrows notably deal less damage the slower they move, from 2-4 points of damage min/max. (Or, half a heart to a whole heart). Arrows are easily blocked by Knight's shields, have very little knockback, and don't help in close combat. Their other arrows are what makes them useful, like the bomb arrows and fire arrows, and less often seen the Water Arrows. Water arrows stun all classes for a short time, followed by Fire Arrows which burns wood blocks and deal 7 points of damage (that's a heart and three fourths), and the bomb arrows which deal about 12 damage, while also destroying most blocks in one shot.

Builders: The "backbone" (read: "Not Knight but lets Knights use bombs") of the Army, Builders are effective at securing locations and controlling crowds, able to deter enemies from areas with "traps" ("trap blocks covering sawmills"), "amazing castles" ("panicked walls built out of 20% wood, 5% ladder, 40% stone, 15% doors, and 20% tears over their lost 'pretty' wall"), and "stores" for their teammates! ("By stores we mean one Knight shop and a Tunnel, the rest having been destroyed long ago by the enemy Knights bombjumping over your walls and using the stations to buy bombs to destroy... more stations.") They deal two points of damage per swing of their Pickaxe, which has pitiful range and slows them down, but hits twice in a second for one whole heart of damage per second. Though that's their only form of attack, besides tossing boulders onto Enemy Heads and building catapults for their knights to use.

End of Class Summaries. Begin: Class Reformation.

Reformed Knight: Let's face it, the Knight is the most Overpowered class in game, considering how all defense is null against a single knight. And how they "OHKO" all classes. I put that in quotes because it's two hits, really. If not one.
My first nerf in mind is their damage. Their current quick stab is okay as is, dealing one heart of damage per hit. But if I do have one thing in mind is to increase the knockback, pushing targets away dependent on their class. Archers receive the most knockback (three blocks on ground, five to six in air), while builders take a bit less (two blocks on ground, three or four in air), and knights see no knockback due to the weight of their armor. Their slash should deal 1/4th of a heart less damage and have a HIGHER knockback ratio, like so: Four to five blocks on ground for Archers, with seven or eight, up to nine in air. Builders have three blocks knockback due to their higher weight, with up to six in air. Knights see two blocks knockback, with three or four in air. This makes it to where the knight has to time their shots instead of waiting for the flash and clicking twice. It also gives the receiver more time to react, allowing them room to breath and come up with a plan. Dealing almost enough damage to one hit an archer without buffing the Archer's HP, it makes it perfect against other classes as well, giving the builders an additional 1 healthpoint means that it takes either another slash or another jab to kill them. So up to three hits to kill a builder, but it pushes them away instead of outright stunning them in place, so they can flee. Other knights, though, are left in place, meaning they'll take the full brunt of the blow, two direct slashes. But they won't be dead, not yet. They'll have just half a heart to either flee or make a comeback. This increases the length of battles, making them seem more epic, not just mowing down enemies and absorbing all of their hearts.
For the shield, I have nothing to really add to it (Well, maybe a shield bash mechanic. Pulling out your shield will cause it to flash for the first few frames it's there. Hitting the shield during those flashing frames causes the attacker to receive a short stun and light knockback. This applies to all classes who use a melee attack against the Knight). Besides that the Knights are weighty, and should have less gliding time with their shields. And shields should also work in reverse. If they have their shield in the gliding position while going up into the air, they should see a reduction in gained height because they're catching air with it both ways. So they should wait until they reach their full height before deploying their shield.
Bombs: Nothing to add here. They're balanced well, expect for some of the insane height gained from multiple bomb jumps. Maybe nerf the max height gained from any bomb jump, to make walls relevant again.
Movement: They need to move a bit slower, in general. They can slash and move faster, which shouldn't be a thing. If I swing a sword in real life while jumping, I may move ONE inch. Maybe. And they should have decreased wall climbing, since they can bomb jump into SPACE. Their armor weighs them down, yet they're the most mobile class in-game, hooves down. So they could use less movement options, in terms of speed and wall running. Water should also heavily restrict them, making charged slashes take twice as long to charge and their shield will come down from a single fully charged shot, for a very brief moment. Again, this is trying to make boats relevant on watery maps, you'll hear more about this on other classes.

Reformed Archer: To begin, the archer is going to be getting a lot of buffs that INCLUDES the knife, but nerfed to be balanced. Right now, Archers are supposed to stay back and support. And what I want is for it to stay like that, but with more fluctuation in damage dependent on arrow velocity.
Bow: Arrows deal okay damage now, but it could use a little buff in some places. Velocity should play a large factor in damage and stuns. Coming straight from the bow, a point blank shot should deal six points of damage. This isn't the max damage, though, as arrows follow gravity. Once the arrow reaches terminal velocity, it can deal a maximum of seven points of damage, almost killing another archer in one shot! 'Tis a fleshwound! But on the other hoof, an arrow can deal no damage, or one point of damage, for being fired too weakly from the bow. That's only a quarter of a heart. Now, on the Legolas shot, it should only fire one arrow. But this arrow is a Critical Arrow, with a much higher max damage and starting velocity than the normal charged shot. It can deal anywhere from 0 points of damage (firing straight up at a target that only barely touches them causes this) up to ten points of damage point blank (that's two and a half hearts!), with a cap of twelve whole points of damage! Three hearts! Or, three normal arrows. Which means there is less chance to hit with this shot, but greater reward and a guard break when it collides with a shield. But only if the velocity states that it was supposed to deal seven points of damage or greater. Anything over 11 points of damage will cause a very short stun on the Knight if it collides with shield, rendering them unable to attack for half a second. Meaning that defending Archers can actually HELP defend without being too close to the action. The Legolas shot only affects ONE target, and the "massive damage" shot only works with basic arrows. Other arrow types will behave like a normal charged shot, firing three at once. Will not fire additional basic arrows if you run out of the special arrow. Special arrows come in stacks of three, except bomb arrows which only stack up to one.
Dagger: Now, the dagger is a weak weapon. It shouldn't deal massive damage like the sword, but it's better than nothing when you're trying to flee from bomb jumping knights. Equipped to the spacebar, the knife will also allow you to dig through dirt and wood blocks, slower than a Knight but still there. The dagger should deal three points of damage. But it can be charged up to deal a whole heart, or four points. But that's not all! Backstabs return, though nerfed heavily and with collision! Backstabs only occur when stabbing a player in the back, meaning you're behind them as they look in another direction. Backstabs deal five points of damage, but a charged backstab will deal six whole points, a heart and a half! Charged use of the dagger is shorter than the Knight's sword, and when used against any target who isn't shielding, it will cause a very short stun, allowing you to run away. But it only lasts for a very short half a second, and will make them immune to the next charged stab from you for the next four seconds. Charged back stabs give no stun, and after any backstab is made, the character stabbed in the back is immune to additional damage from backstabs for four seconds. Charged backstabs give three blocks of knockback to all classes. Otherwise, the knife doesn't deal knockback. It's slightly faster than the Knight's sword, but has a shorter range. Almost as fast as a builder's Pickaxe. Can interrupt charged slashes from Knights.
(Side note: reading over the Archers make them seem too bad plot. Up for discussion on that, but I think it's closer to balanced.)

Reformed Builders: I'll be honest here, I only have a few notes about builders. And it's mostly about production. Double the door costs, make doors twice as big. That way doors aren't two parts, but one part. Faster to place, harder to mess up. Makes it easier for players to tell which way the door is supposed to face. Also have the door "opening and closing" when you're trying to place it. Make it so damn obvious that I never run into a sideways door again, please. Those are the worst. Also, a torch would be nice instead of just a Lantern. It can be built from the Menu, stuck on walls, but has a shorter range and can only be stuck on Stone Walls. Everything else is... pretty good, I'd like to say.
Oh wait, then theres Cross-Items, like the drill and two-sided shops.
Drills shouldn't be a tool other classes can use. It ruins the game when a group of Knights just immediately swarm in at the very first seconds of a match and drill right into your flag room. Then buy bombs from your bombshop and use them to blow up whats left. And that's another thing. Shops should have shopkeeps that REFUSE to sell to the other team. Killing the shopkeep causes the shop to shut down, making builders have to destroy the old shop to set up a new one. Destroying the shop causes the shopkeep to leave. Basically, it's urging Builders to place the shops inside of team controlled buildings, so they can't be destroyed by the other team so easily. It adds defense and more of a "fort" feel to an area. It would help the game quite a bit!
Carrying anything in your hooves should also slow you down, and leave you unable to attack or defend until you place it down. This is more of an all around thing, but it's odd to see Stone glued to a knight as he swings his sword about.
Items should have weight to, and deal damage dependent on how fast it lands on something, like Rocks do. Buff up the Boulder and make logs deal two-three points of damage. Suddenly, throwing everything you own at the enemy matters. Carrying items in your hooves across water causes you to sink slowly to the bottom.

-

Gameplay Additions!

I've gone through nerfs and buffs, but now let's add new mechanics to the game!

Stamina!

I've seen this topic before, and I can't help but agree. Some things just tend to be spammed too much, and I'd like to see an end to that. A small green bar will float above your character when you do something that requires Stamina. Most actions will require Stamina to perform. Running and such are free actions, but most other mechanics will not. NOTE: After using an ability that takes any amount of Stamina, there is a half a second delay before you will begin to recover Stamina. Using Stamina when you have less than the amount needed will give you Negative Stamina, increasing the length you must wait to recover stamina even further.

Knight: Base Stamina of 100 Points. Recovery rate at 10 points a second.

Shielding: Blocking attacks with your shield requires Stamina to do so. As a Knight, you have the most Stamina, being 100 points. Every point of damage you block takes three times the Stamina to absorb. If you run out of Stamina, you are Exhausted, meaning you will walk at half speed and be unable to attack until you reach 50 points of stamina. Stamina recovers at ten points a second, leaving you with five seconds of reduced speed. Stamina recovers at five points a second while shielding. When stunned, you do not recover Stamina.

'Charged' Attacks: The basic Slash requires twenty points to perform. A charged version requires twenty per slash used. So backing off to recover would be a good idea, or seeking help from your team even better.

Gliding: It's great on the upper body, but hard to do for a while! It takes two Stamina a second to glide, but after six seconds, it bumps up to four stamina a second. It will raise up to five Stamina a second after 10 seconds of gliding, and remain there until you fall. Though after five or six seconds, you're probably about to land, but you'll land with less Stamina, so I hope you're ready.

Archer: Base Stamina of 60 Points. Recovery rate at 12 Points a second.

Grappling: While Grappling, you recover only six points a second of Stamina a second. Firing a shot costs Twelve points while Grappled, otherwise it's free. Throwing your grappling hook costs ten points of Stamina. Running out of Stamina causes you to fall! Charging any shot causes your Stamina to drop to two points a second.

Charged Shots: For the Basic Arrow shot, it costs twenty five points of Stamina to perform. Or ten points per arrow for other types of Arrows. This is to discourage spamming special arrows somewhat. And to hopefully use your bow when you're properly on the ground.

Dagger: Using the dagger at all takes five Stamina. Charging it and using it takes fifteen.

Fletcher/Skinner/Blacksmith! What could all of these do?

Fletcher: Once a Fletcher is built, at the cost of 150 Wood, 50 Stone, and 50 Gold, Pickaxes for your team swing 10% Faster, arrows are 20% cheaper, and wood-based products go down in price by 20%. Catapults launch farther, boats last a little longer and are slower to turn teams!

Skinner: Finally, better armor! This stand costs 200 Wood, 100 Stone, and 100 Gold to make! That's quite a bit. Can only be made with a Fletcher's help, who provides the right tools to build it! Archers are much lighter than before, and spawn with an additional half a heart! This half of a heart does not replenish, and can only return by visting the Skinner and paying for it once they lose it, though. Builders have reduced speed penalties when moving in water, and can wall climb slightly higher. Knights can glide a little farther and move slightly faster. Almost at normal speed!

Blacksmith: Oh colt, the meat and bones! 250 Wood, 150 Stone, 100 Gold! Knights now spawn with an additional heart, though this can only be recovered once lost at their team's Blacksmith. Archer's arrows now fly farther and faster! Builders will be pleased to find that they are able to mine more stone and wood with their new shiny Pickaxes (+2 per swing)!

... I think that's it. RANT OVER! :D YAY!

 

tl;dr

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein

Not gonna happen anyway. Or make your own mod.

 

You contributed so much to this conversation, you deserve a medal. But I don't think one exists for people of your caliber, I'm afraid.

 

Your caliber apparently is too large to actually bother to read the rules, it appears.
https://forum.kag2d.com/threads/rules-about-making-suggestions-and-posting.15627/

Also, a lot of the things you suggested already have their own threads.
https://forum.kag2d.com/threads/list-of-things-already-suggested-do-not-suggest-these-again.15417/

Add your ideas to the regarding threads instead of making one huge wall of text that no one is gonna bother to read or even seriously reply to.

 

*cough* read #1 on the rulesheet *cough*

Personally, I only like the part about knights being heavier... as they are heavier. As much as I like playing as them, They are rek monsters...

Archers can stay the same, if you need to learn how to be archer... Ask @owthathurts . He holds classes M-F at 5-7 GMT

 

lessons from me? cmon man, you have way too much of a high opinion on me.. also, the idea of bringing back dagger and changing the legolas arrow? why. the arrow is fine how it is. and dagger would just cause a whole shedload of whining.

 

Spoiler: ?

 

You have a slew of good ideas, but you should probably create them with modding and show they are good ideas, then it will be added to the game if the devs like it.

 

ditto.

Starting from bottom - fletcher, skinner, blacksmith, stamina. It's all do-able with KAG modding possibilities. Devs are happy with their product, it's selling well (it hit 100k copies this weekend) and they're not gonna completely overhaul it at this point whether you like it or not just because of your post.

Not to mention class changes that don't even require creating new files just editing exisitng ones.

 

8/10 because some people fell for this

 

Literally everything you've said has all ready had kids whine about it, and has been discussed and decided to be good.
Also "Builders never build anything good."
>"Lets make it harder to build!"

 

Galen said it best:

This will give the added benefit to be able to expand on these ideas and really figure out if they are good or not. With the help of the community maybe (and that's a HUGE maybe) some of these ideas might get some traction in a mod.

 

I love it, do it now.

The only thing I'd add, why the hell can knights use EVERYTHING. (Kegs, Drills, Siege Equipment, etc.)

I would rather see kegs siege equipment only usable by builders.
I'm a structural engineer, I designed this catapult, I bought it, you are a knight- you have NO idea how this thing works- get the hell outta my way.